Clinic for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Nord-Trndelag Hospital Trust, Namsos Hospital, Norway; Department of Mental Health, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway.
Department of Nursing Scienses, Mid Sweden University, Sundsvall, Sweden.
Geriatr Nurs. 2019 May-Jun;40(3):246-251. doi: 10.1016/j.gerinurse.2018.10.006. Epub 2018 Nov 10.
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a neurodegenerative disease with symptoms that differs from other dementias. Commonly early symptoms in FTD are changes in personality and behavior, which can be interpreted as psychiatric disease. The delay in FTD diagnosis contributes to the burden of family caregivers. Therefore, it is important to have more knowledge about the pre-diagnostic stage. In this qualitative interview study, we explored fourteen family caregiver's experiences of the pre-diagnostic stage of frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Our findings suggest that the family caregivers experienced the pre-diagnostic stage of FTD as changes in the interpersonal relationship with their loved one. These changes were often subtle and difficult for family caregivers to explain to others. The findings from our study illuminate the importance of medical staff paying attention when a next of kin is concerned about subtle changes in a loved one. The findings also illuminate that awareness of FTD should be raised.
额颞叶痴呆（FTD）是一种神经退行性疾病，其症状与其他痴呆症不同。在 FTD 中，常见的早期症状是人格和行为的改变，这些改变可以被解释为精神疾病。FTD 诊断的延迟导致了家庭照顾者的负担。因此，了解预诊断阶段非常重要。在这项定性访谈研究中，我们探讨了 14 名家庭照顾者在额颞叶痴呆（FTD）预诊断阶段的经历。我们的研究结果表明，家庭照顾者在 FTD 的预诊断阶段经历了与他们所爱的人之间人际关系的变化。这些变化通常很微妙，家庭照顾者很难向其他人解释。我们的研究结果阐明了医务人员在亲属关注亲人的微妙变化时应予以关注的重要性。研究结果还表明，应该提高对 FTD 的认识。
